Early Stroud fire engines by Howard Beard

IN Edwardian days, Stroud had two fire brigades, the Volunteer Service and the Stroud Urban District Council.

The pumping mechanism of the engines was steam powered, but they were horse-drawn, made by London firm Merryweather and Sons. They could pump between 250 and 400 gallons a minute.

It must have been quite a task to harness the horse to the engine when an alarm was raised, light the fire to heat the boiler, then get up enough steam to pump water on arrival at the site of the fire.

Also, it was essential to find a pond or a lake nearby to supply water if no other source was available. It is small wonder that so many buildings burnt down. The photo of the Volunteer engine shows it in the Shambles, decorated to take part in the carnival for George V’s Coronation in 1911. The postcard of the SUDC vehicle was taken when it was on duty. It was written by a girl to her friend and reads ‘I have put a cross by the one I am going to meet tonight’! In the Empire Day picture the two engines are seen in a parade at Fromehall Park in 1908. The final image is of the funeral procession for Captain T W Gardner, who died in 1907. He had helped to set up the Volunteer Service back in 1868. The cortege is seen entering the Shambles, with the coffin mounted on the engine.